The underhood oddities that VW brands offer in the U.S.

Recent News

From the May 2018 issueAutomaking behemoth Volkswagen leverages economies of scale with unparalleled success. It uses similar architectures to underpin Phaetons and six-figure Continental GTs, Polos and Passats.

That strategy is hardly unique to the Volkswagen Group. What is unique is the way each VW brand maintains its distinctive character. That’s largely due to the Group’s engine lineup, the most diverse in the industry.

In a market where it feels as if every brand’s engine menu lists four-, six-, and eight-cylinders, novel mills such as Audi’s inline-five and Bentley’s W-12 imbue the Group’s closely related cars with personalities all their own and the sort of cachet that attracts enthusiasts and the well-heeled alike—even if it’s the four-cylinders that thrill the Wolfsburg accountants. Here’s the full rundown of the under-the-hood oddities Volkswagen offers in the U.S.